Two
Eshim
I eyed King Damien's office curiously as I waited for him. While demons were free to come and go from Otherworld—especially since we started working in the human realm—I'd never been to the king's office before.
King Damien was one of the kindest people I'd ever met, and even his office reflected that.
His desk and his walls were full of framed pictures, not just of his two mates and son, but what looked like practically the whole Otherworld population.
Some people showed up more than others, like the king's mates, Artemus and Reece, and his son, Walker. There was a man with cute cat ears that I knew to be the king's best friend, Caelan. There were also various team leaders of Otherworld—there were different teams that collected the souls of different types of humans—and Nox, a quirky man I really, really liked. He used to be responsible for taking care of the pit where the dark souls burned, but now there was a whole team for that too. Last I'd heard, Nox was doing 'volunteer work' for Fate.
I jumped when the door behind me opened, and turned to watch King Damien close the door behind him, then turn to me with a smile.
"Eshim! It's been a while. Is everything okay?"
I nodded as he walked around the room to settle behind his desk, his midnight black wings folded up comfortably behind him. His horns gleamed in the yellow glow of the lamps scattered around the room, looking extra sharp today.
His golden eyes peered at me curiously as he placed his arms on the table, nails a bright—and slightly messy—yellow today. He must've let his son, Walker, paint them. He was a sweet kid, the only one in all of Otherworld, which meant he had a lot of very dangerous people watching over him, none more than the man in front of me.
"You have something you want to discuss," he prompted, and I nodded again.
I was very rarely quiet. Actually, the other demons called me a chatterbox because of how infrequent it was for me to shut up. But King Damien was one of the few people who could silence me with just his presence, and I had to swallow a couple of times to find my voice.
"I found my mate," I blurted out, and his brows shot up before a wide smile spread across his face.
"Really? That's amazing. Congratulations, Eshim."
I nodded like a bobblehead, then clarified, "But he lives in Lux's city. Actually, he's friends with Lux's mate."
"Again? How many friends does Lux's mate have?" King Damien said with a chuckle. "Damn it, Eshim. I owe Reece a blo—I mean, he won the bet."
Was he about to say blowjob? Nope. I did not hear that.
"You had a bet? On what?" I asked, mildly curious even though I did not want to know what exactly they won or lost.
"Well, Reece was confident Archer's other friend would end up being the mate of one of you, but I felt it was strange enough that two of them ended up with mates. Seems like I was wrong," he said with a gamely shrug, and I smiled.
"Yeah. I heard his voice over the phone, and I just knew."
"Oh, that's a new one. Ten's was eye contact."
I blinked. "Ten found his mate?"
King Damien grinned. "Yep. It was one hell of a story too. I'll let him tell you, though. What did you need from me? I suppose you want to move closer to Calux?"
I nodded, crossing the fingers of all four of my hands under the desk. "Lux said I could stay at his old place."
"Hmm...I don't like leaving your spot empty. We still don't know exactly where Mammon and the dark souls will head next, and I don't want to leave a big area unprotected. They've been quiet for a month, and that can only mean they're planning something."
I slumped, knowing he was right. I had a job to do, and I couldn't just ignore it because I found my mate.
"Tell you what—give me a day to check in with the others, and we'll find someone to take your spot. I think we've got four demons over in New York state, and I'm sure we can move one of them here."
"Not Kor," I said instantly, making him raise a brow. "You know how he is. He's good for backup, but he won't leave his house unless someone makes him. He needs a partner."
"I will refrain from telling him you said that, for your sake," King Damien said with a little smirk, and I rolled my eyes.
"Yes, please. I like all my arms attached," I said, and he snickered.
"Well, at least you have a spare set," he said with a wink, and I gasped.
"How dare you!" I exclaimed, then remembered who I was talking to. It was his fault anyway. He was too damned friendly for a king.
"Okay, okay. I'll talk to Xin and Jeska, see which one of them is willing to move. I'll update you by evening."
"Thank you so much, King Damien."
He waved me off. "If you weren't supposed to meet your mate now, you wouldn't have heard his voice. I'm only doing what Fate wants me to do."
I nodded, relieved to hear that, then got to my feet. With two arms, I slid the chair back into place, scratching the back of my head with the third while I gave the king an awkward wave with the fourth. "I'll head back to my place, then. Thank you."
King Damien nodded, and I stepped out of his study before using my magic to return to my small apartment. I knew he would come through, which meant I needed to move on to the next step and figure out how I was going to woo my mate.
Luckily for me, I had a demon on the inside.
Me : Hey, tell me more about Jerry. What's he like? What does he like? Does he laugh a lot? He has a beautiful laugh.
Lux : I'm guessing your talk with King Damien went well?
Me : He's finding someone to replace me. Now tell me!
Lux : Well, I'm not typing all that, so let me call.
My phone started buzzing, and I picked up, already impatient.
"Tell me, tell me, tell me."
"I will once you shut up," Lux said with a snort, and I hushed right up. "Okay, so Jerry's very kind, and sweet. He's also cheerful, but I think he's a little sad right now. He hides it well, but Archer can see it. He likes spending time with us and Kat, people he's close to. I don't know about hobbies, but he was talking about adopting a dog earlier today."
"Why is he sad?" I asked, because I hadn't really processed anything after that.
"Hmm? Oh, well, Kat and he had lived together for a long time before she moved out, and now both his friends are dating, and I think he's lonely? That's why I've been inviting him over as often as possible. Oh, and his longtime assistant is also quitting soon, so he's sad about that too."
Good Afterworld, my mate needed a break. And an assistant, by the sound of it. Hmm...
Jerry
I gazed at the little terror as he raced circles around my living room, completely at home after ten minutes of being here. He was a six-month-old, golden-and-white corgi named Tom—having grown up watching a certain cat-and-mouse show, it had seemed like Fate when I saw his name—and it'd been an hour since I adopted him.
Well, if I'd wanted something to liven this place up, I'd made the right call. My furniture might disagree.
"Hey, Tom. Come here, please," I said, and he stopped short to glance up at me, head tilted curiously. Then he made another lap around the room before racing over to me and smacking right into my legs.
Picking him up, I placed him on my lap, where he settled instantly. I hugged him close, and smiled as his soft fur tickled me. Damn, I already loved the little shit, didn't I?
I'd never thought I'd own a tiny dog like him, but here we were. Kat was going to die with laughter when she saw him. Whenever that happened.
"Tom, you're supposed to stop me from being a mopey dick," I whined, and he licked my lips. Just licked them right up. "Ew, gross, kid. We need to have a talk about boundaries."
Placing him onto the floor, I headed to the kitchen to wash my mouth, and he followed after me.
Once I was sure there was no trace of dog saliva on my lips, I set up food and water bowls for him in the corner of the kitchen, and he leaped into the food as if he'd been starving for years.
Shaking my head at his antics, I headed back to the living room.
It was Sunday, and I had nothing to do. How did I usually spend my days off?
With either Kat or Archer, my mind supplied, and I scowled. Did I really not have any other friends?
It wasn't like I didn't know any other people. I was friendly with everyone who worked at our company, but they were all my employees. Outside of work, I didn't really socialize much, which I was starting to see might be a problem.
My phone buzzed on the coffee table, and I picked it up as Tom raced back into the room.
"Hey, Archer," I answered, and Tom barked along in greeting.
"You got the dog then, huh? That was fast," Archer said, a smile in his voice. I could just see him with that smug look on his face, his brown eyes sparkling as he rubbed his trimmed beard, the same dark color as his short hair.
"Yep. Why wait, right?" I said as I settled onto the couch, and Tom scrambled, scratching the couch in his failed attempts to climb up. Leaning down, I picked him up and placed him on my chest, where he settled like a damned cat.
"True. What breed did you get?" he asked, and I winced when Gunner shrieked right into the phone. He was in his 'loud phase,' according to Lux.
"A corgi."
"How small is he?" Archer asked, grin in his voice, and I sighed. Here we go.
"Small," I said, not giving him an inch, and he snickered.
"Okay, well, I called to invite you—and your new dog—over for dinner. Lux is making a roast."
They thought they were sneaky, but I'd noticed they'd asked me over a lot more since Kat moved out. Even knowing that, I couldn't bring myself to refuse the invitation because a) Lux's cooking was out-of-this-world good and b) I liked spending time with those three, even if Gunner was adamant on giving me a bald spot one of these days.
"Sounds delicious. Count me in. What can I bring?"
Lux called out something from the background, and Archer chuckled. "Lux says to bring some dessert from that bakery near your place, and your cute butt."
I smirked, though I wondered how Lux had heard me. Phone must've been on speaker, I realized, then shook my head. "I think your man is putting the moves on me, Archer. You sure you want me to come over?"
"Yeah, yeah. I trust both of you."
I smiled, ignoring the way my heart went all gooey at his simple statement. I would die—and maybe even kill, depending on the circumstances—for Archer or Kat, and it was nice to know the sentiment was returned.
We ended the call shortly after, and later, I went over with Tom and a box of Lux's favorite lava cakes.
Lux and Gunner instantly fell in love with Tom, and Gunner never even tried to tug at his fur, the little jerk. Not that I wanted him to rip out my dog's fur, of course.
Archer, on the other hand, spent the whole meal amused about the fact that I'd adopted a little dog named Tom.
"We should call him Tommy, no?" he asked with a smile, and I scoffed.
"His name is Tom. We'll call him Tom."
Then, Archer called Kat, put it on speaker, and the two of them spent the next fifteen minutes roasting me until I was crispier than the chicken we'd eaten.
It felt like old times, and I loved every minute of it.